Roystonea regia (Kunth) Cook, Arecaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Low risk, score: 0 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Euterpe ventricosa C. H. Wright; Oreodoxa regia Kunth; Palma elata W. Bartram; Roystonea elata (W. Bartram) F. Harper; Roystonea floridana O. F. Cook

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Cuban royal palm, Florida royal palm, royal palm

French: palmier royal

Nauruan: dabam

Spanish: chaguaramo, palma real, palma real Cubana

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Stems gray-white, 30 m, diameter 35-41 cm, smooth. Leaves: segments inserted on rachis in several ranks at divergent angles, giving leaf an appearing almost plumose appearance. Inflorescences to 1 m; rachillae 11-31 cm, stiff. Flowers white; anthers pinkish. Fruits ripening from green through red to purplish black at maturity, dorsiventrally compressed obovoid, 9.5-10.5 mm, diameter 7.4-7.8 mm" (Flora of North America online).

"Trunk, 60-75 feet tall, swollen toward middle.  Fronds 10-13 feet long, lower fronds hanging below horizontal, crownshaft 5 feet long, partially obscured by lower fronds; leaflets in brief clusters of 2-4, arranged in several planes.  Inflorescence branch arching gracefully outward, not wavy.  Fruit broadly ellipsoid, 0.3-0.5 inches long, dull red to purplish"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 628).

Habitat/ecology:  Commonly planted as a street tree.  In Hawai‘i (O‘ahu), it is naturalized throughout Waimānalo "where it is described as a 'serious pest' by nursery owners, who must control the seedlings.  For these reasons, the continuing use of this species as an ornamental should be discouraged" (Frohlich & Lau, 2007; p. 9).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Florida (US), Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba; naturalized elsewhere (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 87)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced cultivated	Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. (2010) (p. 38)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (pp. 409-410)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 14)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Taha‘a Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 14)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 143)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 87)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1361)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2007) (p. 9) Vouchers cited: G. Staples 1234 (BISH), G. Staples 1236 (BISH)
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced cultivated	Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (p. 46) Voucher cited: Thaman et al. 137 (SUVA)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Palau Islands (main island group)	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 87)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2010)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2010)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 76) Cultivated only

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	introduced cultivated	Swarbrick, J. T. (1997) (p. 126)
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island	introduced cultivated	Rivers, Julie (2004) (p. 6)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2010)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Roystonea regia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Roystonea regia as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Roystonea regia may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 2011. Flora of North America North of Mexico (online edition).

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20:1-126.

Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex. 2007. New plant records from O‘ahu for 2006. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2006. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 96:8-13.

Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. 2010. Checklist of the vascular plants of Pohnpei with local names and uses. Allertonia, in press. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 146 pp.

Rivers, Julie. 2004. Botanical survey update of Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipeligo, British Indian Ocean Territory. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific. 16 pp. plus "List of the higher plants of Diego Garcia".

Smith, Albert C. 1979. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 1. 494 pp.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Swarbrick, J. T. 1997. Environmental weeds and exotic plants on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: a report to Parks Australia. 101 pp. plus appendix.

Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. 1994. The flora of Nauru. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Research Bulletin 392:1-223.

U. S. Government. 2010. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2010. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).